A Valentine's Day Story
by angelchica
Summary: When Cordelia goes to the mall to get Angel’s Valentine’s day present, she finds herself a prisoner in a shootout. You all asked me for more a/c so here you go!


Title: A Valentine's Day Story  
  
Author: Angelchica  
  
Email: Mistyblue622@hotmail.com  
  
Summary: When Cordelia goes to the mall to get Angel's Valentine's day present, she finds herself a prisoner in a shootout. You know me I love a/c pairing.  
  
Spoiler: none really  
  
Disclaimer: Well duh! These characters do not belong to me. They belong to Joss Whedon and stuff!  
  
Feedback: Please review! I love to read what you guys think!   
  
  
  
  
Cordelia sat on the couch as she watched Wesley and Gunn scurry around the hotel's ground floor. Wesley was wearing a rented tuxedo and had his hair perfectly fixed while holding a bouquet of roses in one arm.  
  
"Where are my keys!" Wesley yelled. Gunn lifted up his jacket and sure enough they were there.  
  
"Here man," Gunn said. Gunn was also looking sharp that night with a nice suit that made him look handsome. Cordelia just looked at them for a moment.   
  
Valentine's day had always been her favorite holiday. When she was at Sunnydale High, she always had a date that night with the hottest, most popular guy at school. She always got roses, teddy bears, dinner at an expensive restaurant, all of the above. But now it was different. They all lead different lives and times change. She no longer was who she used to be. Sometimes she resented that but at times she was grateful. If her life hadn't made that complete 360, she wouldn't have fallen for the vampire with a soul. Not that it was a virtue to have had fallen in love with him. She knew her love wasn't corresponded with his and she longed for it to. She knew that he loved Buffy and would always love her. This hurt Cordelia deep inside. Buffy was so lucky. But all she could do was conform with his friendship which she treasured deeply.   
  
Cordelia was to into her thoughts that she didn't realize that Wesley and Gunn were gone.  
  
"Angel," she called out. She headed down the stairs and soon enough found him. Angel was all sweaty and shirtless. He had been practicing his moves and working out. Cordelia found it hard to resist the urges from within her.  
  
"Yeah," Angel said as he grabbed a towel.  
  
"Can you give me a ride to the mall? I need to go to Victoria's Secret. It's Valentine's Day and you know there's always a sale there. I need all the panties I can get. And I want to get there before it closes," Cordelia said. The truth was that she had bought Angel a present and didn't want him to know what it was.  
  
"Um...sure. Let me just get cleaned up," he said as he headed for the bathroom. Cordelia thought back to the day she was looking for a present for Angel. She had a hard time finding something for him. What do you get a vampire for a present? Especially on Valentine's day. But when she was almost out of luck she found something and ordered it. She started hearing footsteps and quickly turned around. "Let's go."   
  
After ten minutes they finally arrived at the mall.  
  
"Do you want me to come with you?" Angel asked.  
  
"No!" Cordelia yelled, "I mean, no, no you don't have to. I thought I would just go around and check out the sales.  
  
"What time do you want me to pick you up?"  
  
"In about 30 minutes if you want. I won't take long. You can just wait for me at the entrance," And with that Cordelia got out of the car and closed the door and headed towards the entrance.   
  
That was close, she thought to herself. She headed to Victoria's secret and sure enough there was a sale so she decided to stock up. She looked at her watch. She had taken a long time! She had passed the 30 minutes! She paid her items and headed quickly to Things Remembered, the store in which she had gotten Angel's present. She handed the cashier a slip of paper and then the cashier handed her a small sized box inside of a plastic bag.  
  
Then all of a sudden she started to feel the sharp pain start to develop from the back of her head. Everything started to turn and she couldn't keep her balance. The pain made it's way towards the front of her head and soon enough it devoured her. She grabbed her head and screamed as she fell to the ground. As soon as she regained herself she looked and noticed that the cashier was right by her side.  
  
"Are you okay?" the cashier asked. Cordelia looked around and started to panic.  
  
"Everybody! We have to get out of here! Please! There's going to be-". But before she could finish her sentence, she heard someone yell out.  
  
"Everybody down on the floor! This is a hold up!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Angel looked at the clock on the wall. He was running an hour late! Cordelia would be waiting for him at the door very furiously. But then he looked around. It would all be worth it. He had been planning this for way too long and the day had finally come. He could no longer hide his feelings for Cordy. He had been trying to get over this feeling for her but he couldn't. This thing he felt for her was stronger than him. For a long time he had been confused. He thought he was in love with the slayer but after spending so much time with Cordy he realized he was wrong. Whenever she wasn't around, he would think of her. Not the slayer. He admitted he felt a special feeling for Buffy but it wasn't the same feeling he felt for Cordelia.   
  
He looked at the table that had a beautiful red table cloth. On it were two candles on opposite sides of the table. There were napkins placed neatly beside the beautiful plates and glasses. He looked in the kitchen and saw the tray filled with delicious shrimp scampi and other delicious delicacies. He quickly placed the dozen red roses on the chair in which Cordelia would sit in and grabbed the extra rose he had bought. He quickly plucked each of the petals and started to place them on the floor. He started from the door and made a trail leading up to chair. He went over to the stereo and made sure the right song was on and programmed it to automatically play right when they entered the door. He smiled at his accomplishment, grabbed his black leather jacket and left to go pick up Cordelia.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Cordelia was huddled in a corner. There was a good number of people that were also huddled up in the various corners. The cashier was loading money into the plastic bag. Cordelia was so scared and she could just imagine everybody else. This wasn't just a regular burglar. It was a greedy demon. One that Cordelia had never seen before. Cordelia just stared at him. She was so scared and she didn't know what her fate would be in the hands of a demon. But then again what would a demon want with so much money?  
  
* * * * *  
  
Angel had been waiting for half an hour at the entrance and still no sign of Cordelia. He was actually relieved she wasn't out there waiting for him. She must have gotten caught up in all the sales but then again she was and hour and a half late. He was getting impatient and terribly worried. Then he heard sirens. Police cars circled around the entrance. Angel climbed out of his car and headed towards the police. He quickly recognized Kate and headed towards her.  
  
"What's the problem?" Angel asked.  
  
"There's a hold up in one of the stores. People have described the man as some kind of a mutant of some sort. I don't know," Kate said.  
  
"Is that why you're here?" Angel asked her.  
  
"Does it matter why? I'm here because there are many people at stake and I don't want anything to happen to them.  
  
"What store?" Angel asked concerned hoping it wasn't Victoria's Secret but then he thought, Cordelia is somewhere in the mall and who knows what could happen.  
  
"Things Remembered," Kate said and with that Angel sprinted towards the mall's entrance. "Angel! Wait! You can't go in there!" she yelled after him as she followed him inside.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Cordelia looked at the demon. Then the demon turned and looked at Cordelia.  
  
"What are you looking at? First time you've ever seen a demon before?" the demon asked.  
  
"No. It's just that you're skin looks really dry and I was just thinking that if you exfoliate properly and use a decent moisturizer it might look better and not so scaly" Cordelia replied, her voice trembling. The demon picked her up and grabbed her by the arm fiercely. "Oww! Let go of me!" She yelled. As she tried to punch and kick the demon.  
  
"Oh, a feisty one. I like them feisty. Thanks for the tip but I'm not a whole lot into beauty techniques and maybe you should be the one to consider exfoliating and moisturizing because after I'm done with you, you're face won't look as pretty as it does now" the demon said as he picked her up and threw her across the room. Cordelia hit the stand hard and all of the products fell on her. She moaned from the pain.   
  
"Not so tough anymore are we!" the demon yelled. Cordelia tried to get up. The demon neared her. "Now I'll show you how to exfoliate-" he was interrupted by a hard punch. The demon flew across the room. Angel bent down to help Cordelia but just as he grabbed her hand, something hard hit him in his back. He moaned. His game face came on and people in the store gasped. "A vampire!" By this time Kate finally caught up to Angel and was out of breath. She noticed Cordelia on the floor and a whole bunch of other customers huddled by the corners. She saw the demon and Angel fighting so she took this to her advantage to get the prisoners to safety.  
  
"Everybody! Quick!" Kate yelled as she motioned the people to come to her with her hands. Everybody was out except for Cordelia.  
  
"Cordelia, come on," Kate yelled.  
  
"I can't I have to help Angel," she said as she tried to get up. Kate hesitated but she noticed that all the prisoners were scared at the site so she gave up and led the prisoners to safety.  
  
Angel and the demon fought and fought. The demon was too strong for him but Angel wasn't just ready to give up. He lay on the floor unmoving and was waiting for the demon to make it's move. When the demon was right where he wanted him, he made his move. He caught the demon off guard and tripped him. He picked the demon up and punched him in the face several times. When he saw the demon could take no more he made his way towards Cordelia who was trying to get up.  
  
"Here, let me help you," Angel said so soothingly. Cordelia took his hand and eventually made it up but lost her balance slightly. Angel helped her regain her balance. The hard blow to the head got her a bit disoriented.  
  
"Thanks," Cordelia said. Angel smiled at her but then his expression changed. He saw the look on Cordelia's face. He didn't even have time to turn around to see at what Cordelia was so freighted at. He felt Cordelia grab his arm and pull him to the other way. Everything felt like it went in slow motion. He felt them turn in a circle and then he was thrown to the other side of the store. Angel fell to the floor and turned around. He saw the demon holding a wooden stake in his palm. Cordelia didn't have enough time. She wasn't quick enough. She turned around and the wooden stake hit her, barely missing her heart. She screamed in pain.  
  
"Cordelia!" Angel yelled as he saw Cordelia fall to the ground. His face changed again and he quickly got up on his feet and ran towards the demon like a madman while at the same time screaming. He caught a glimpse of a silver knife with an inscription on it and slashed it across the demon's neck. The demon's head fell and then the body turned into dust. Angel looked down at the dust and then went over to Cordelia. He got on his knees and held her in his arms.  
  
"Cordy! Cordy, can you hear me?" Angel said as he held Cordelia. She seemed to be in a lot of pain and could barely open her eyes.  
  
"Angel? Is that you?" she whispered out softly.  
  
"Yes, yes it's me. Just take it easy. You're going to be alright."  
  
"I'm so cold," Cordelia said as she shivered. Angel immediately took off his jacket and wrapped it around Cordelia as delicately as he could as to not hurt her. "Pull it out," she said.  
  
"No, I can't," Angel said.  
  
"Please, pull it out." Angel hesitated but then he grabbed the stake and pulled it out. He heard Cordelia moan.  
  
"It's okay. It's out now," he paused for a second, "Cordy, you saved my life. That stake was meant for me, not you. I was supposed to protect you and look what happened."  
  
"You would have done the same-oh wait, you already have. Angel, I have to tell you something."  
  
"Shh, don't talk, just take it easy. Kate will be back and she'll call an ambulance," Angel said.  
  
"I don't think I'm going to make it, Angel," Cordelia said as her eyes teared up and saw that Angel's eyes did the same.  
  
"No, Cordy. Don't say that! Of course you're going to make it," Angel said.  
  
"Angel don't. I know my time's coming. But you have to do me a favor," Cordelia said as now she was having trouble breathing and talking.  
  
"Anything," Angel said as he put his hand over her wound, trying to fight back the blood.  
  
"You see that bag over there? The blue one. That's for you. Happy Valentine's day. Open you're present. I want to know if you like it.   
  
"But Cordy," Angel said as he was trying to fight back the tears.  
  
"Please," Cordelia pleaded. Angel hesitated but then got up and made his way towards the bag. He took the small box out of the bag and started to open it. Then he took it out and took off the wrapping. Once out, he saw it. It was a beautiful Angel mounted on a plaque with an inscription below it:  
  
  
For the Angel who always watches out for people, I give you an angel, to watch over you. Love always and forever, Cordelia.  
  
  
The tears were starting to get harder to fight back. He went over to Cordelia and noticed that she looked more pale.  
  
"That is the best present anyone has ever given to me. But I have something to tell you too," Angel said.  
  
"Wait. Let me finish. I just want to say that it has been a pleasure working with you and I wouldn't change anything that has happened for the world. I will always remember Wesley and Gunn-"  
  
"Cordy stop." Angel interrupted but Cordelia continued trying to catch her last breath.  
  
"But," she paused for almost a minute finding her last words hard to say, "I have been wanting to tell you this for the longest time," she paused again, "Angel, I-I l-love y-you," Cordelia said as she looked into Angel's eyes, smiled, and then gave her last breath. Angel looked at her.  
  
"Cordy?" Angel called out to her. "Cordy? Cordelia?" Angel called out her name while he shook her. "Cordelia!" he yelled as tears streamed down his face. "Cordelia! Don't die! Don't die before I tell you I love you!" Angel yelled out but it was too late. Those three small yet meaningful words had not been heard by Cordelia. Angel buried his face next to Cordelia. He was crying. Never in his life had he cried. He had lost his love and she didn't even get to know that. She didn't get a chance to know his true feeling for her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I'm going back in! Make sure nobody else goes in!" Kate said as she made sure the last person was in safety. Just as she made her way to the entrance she saw Angel carrying Cordelia and she froze. Angel made his way down the steps. Kate saw his facial expression. She saw all the tears streaming down his face and immediately knew what had happened.   
  
Pretty soon the rest of the team realized and they all removed their caps and bowed their heads down. Even though most of them did not know the stranger carrying the beautiful lady, they were all of a sudden acquainted. When they saw the man, and they saw tear after tear stream down his face, they knew that he had lost his love. Kate's eyes teared up. Everybody was quiet. Not a sound was heard except for Angel's footsteps and sobbing from a group of people. It was a sight that nobody would forget. Angel just stopped, looked at everybody and then took a last look at his love.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Angel opened the hotel's doors and immediately heard the song play. The song that was meant to be heard by Cordelia. It was Faith Hill's song. "There you'll be".  
  
When I think back on these times  
And the dreams we left behind  
I'll be glad cause I was blessed to get, to have you in my life  
When I look back on these days  
I'll look and see your face  
You were right there for me  
  
Angel looked around and saw the table. How perfectly set it was and how beautifully the candles were set. He pulled out the chair that was meant for Cordelia and removed the roses and set them on the table. He sat down and just listened to the song. The song that was meant for his love.  
  
  
In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky.  
In my heart there'll always be a place for you, for all my life  
I'll keep a part of you with me  
And everywhere I am, there you'll be  
  
  
Angel started to cry again. It was as if this song was written especially for him. This song made him remember all of the times he had with Cordelia. All the times he had saved her from demons and all the times he held her up when she had a vision. And then he remembered how she was the only one who had ever made him smile.  
  
  
Well you showed me how it feels  
To feel the sky within my reach  
And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me  
Your love made me make it through  
Oh, I owe so much to you  
You were right there for me  
  
In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky.  
In my heart there'll always be a place for you, for all my life  
I'll keep a part of you with me  
And everywhere I am, there you'll be.  
  
  
He remembered how she was the one who always had to put up with him. The one who suffered the most but didn't matter to her because she was there to help him whenever he needed. He remembered how she always tried to liven up the mood with her jokes. He remembered how she took care of him when he had gotten hurt in battles. But most of all he remembered that he was wrong. That through it all, he had always been in love with her but never realized it.  
  
  
Cause I always saw in you my light, my strength  
And I want to thank you now for all the ways  
You were right there for me, you were right there for me  
Always  
  
In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky.  
In my heart there'll always be a place for you, for all my life  
I'll keep a part of you with me  
And everywhere I am, there you'll be.  
And everywhere I am, there you'll be  
There you'll be.  
  
The song finished and then the tape went blank. Angel just sat there in complete silence staring into the open. The tears started streaming down his face again. Then he heard someone turning the knob. In walked in Wesley and Gunn. They had huge smiles on their faces. They turned and saw Angel. Neither of them said a word. They walked over to Angel and just looked at him. Angel had not moved at all. He just sat there just staring at the candle that was melting.   
  
"Angel? Are you okay?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Where's Cordy?" Wesley asked. And with that Angel's head moved to look Wesley right in the eyes.  
  
"Cordelia's dead," Angel said sadly and softly.  
  
  



End file.
